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As the years have gone by for my gaming tastes, I have been getting somewhat harder to impress. Sure, I love having that child-like excitement when I play or discover games that peak my interest, but for every four or so games that catch my interest, one or maybe two of them end up as pretty good experiences. Not that it’s a bad thing, but with so many games coming out that are wanting to be the same thing, it becomes harder to stand out to me in terms of games. This is why Furi, an indie game by The Game Bakers, stands out to me. It’s an action game that is focused on boss fights, fast-paced fighting, and twin-stick shooting. How does it all blend together? Well, let’s find out.

Furi puts you into the shoes of an imprisoned individual with long white hair. You are then broken out by a mysterious person who wears a large rabbit head. You are tasked with destroying the jailers that put you into where you are in the first place. Will you find out what exactly happened to you? Well, play the game, and find out. Furi does have a plot, but it’s done in the way of world-building, like in the Dark Souls games or any RPG that has a heavy focus on lore and world-building. It can be interesting, but I can understand if you are one of these kinds of people who want a more substantial story. Still, the universe that Furi sets itself up in is interesting, and I was curious as to what was going on until the very end.

The gameplay in Furi definitely sets itself up as being different from the crowd, with its focus on high-speed gameplay, bullet hell shooters, and the mindset of games like Punch Out!!! Your only goal in the game is to defeat the jailers that have imprisoned you, and pretty much go free. Each boss fight is unique, and has different attack patterns you must learn in a brisk amount of time if you are ever going to survive. You have a gun, a sword, a charge shot, and quick dashes to help you get out of trouble against these bosses. It plays like an isometric action game where you dodge and weave against the opponent to take them down. Fights can be just as long or as fast as you want to make them. Even on the easiest difficulty, I found myself dying a few times, because I decided to be impatient when I really shouldn’t have. It can be a tough game, but definitely one that a player can easily get into and quickly master. To be honest, this game has much faster and more satisfying combat than the recent rushed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game from this year that Activision forcefully made Platinum Games push out. Furi itself is not very long at about three or so hours, but those three hours were amazing. If you beat the game on the recommended difficulty, you unlock a few other modes, like a speed run mode and a super hard mode.

Graphically, Furi is a beautiful game. It doesn’t hurt that the character designs are by the same individual who did Afro Samurai, and it really shows. Each boss isn’t reskinned or uses a similar attack pattern. The color pallet is full of bright and neon-like colors. It is truly eye-catching. Sometimes, the visuals can be a bit much on the screen, but it was really only a problem on the final boss fight. The boss fights all look different, and stand out. The game also offers unique techno songs done by different composers that fit each of the fights that you are thrown into. They were all catchy and memorable. The voice work is also pretty solid. Definitely give kudos to whoever was in charge of the voice work.

Now then, what is not great about this game? Well, it’s complicated. While I do respect that the game’s story was mostly in world-building and lore from the bunny-headed guy, I wish there was either more story, or at the very least, more time to get to know the main character and his relationship between the bosses. The transitions are the only thing connecting your slow walking to the individual boss fights. After you beat them, there is some monologue from the bunny guy, but I wanted to see more interaction between the characters. I get that they want me to piece together the game’s story, but it feels like I have a puzzle with a few pieces missing, so it seems incomplete. You just encounter these characters, and then move on with no real substance to know what really changed about the main lead on his journey. I don’t mean to make the story sound incompetently put together, because it isn’t, but it needed more to it. I also wish there was more to the transition period between bosses. Sometimes, they throw you something different, but maybe some platforming, or something more interactive would have been nice.

In the end, I really did enjoy my time with Furi. It’s a game that stands out in all the right ways. If they could find a way to add more substance to the overall experience, I would rate it a perfect game. I know some people will question if the $24.99 price tag will be worth it. While I did get a review copy, and personally, I would think it was worth the price of entry because it was fun, I can get if you want to wait for a sale if you do not get it while it’s free for PlayStation Plus, or after. I think its good elements outweigh the bad, and I had a lot of fun playing through this action game. If you love fast-paced gameplay, and something that stands out in terms of indie games, then you should definitely check out Furi.